Activities HELP YOUR CHILD LEARN AND GROW! E AG 1 · 2019-12-16 · Activities HELP YOUR CHILD LEARN AND GROW! 1 Try these fun and easy activities with your 1-year-old—a great way

Activities1HELP YOUR CHILD LEARN AND GROW!

Try these fun and easy activities with your 1-year-old—a great way to have fun together and encourage your child’s healthy development.

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Babies love games at this age(Pat-a-Cake, This Little Piggy).

Try different ways of playing thegames and see if your baby will tryit with you. Hide behind furniture

or doors for Peekaboo; clap blocksor pan lids for Pat-a-cake.

Make puppets out of a sock or paper bag—one for you and one for your baby.Have your puppet talk to yourbaby or your baby’s puppet.

Encourage your babyto “talk” back.

This is the time your babylearns that adults can be useful!

When your baby “asks” for somethingby vocalizing or pointing, respond to

his signal. Name the object your babywants and encourage him tocommunicate again—taking

turns with each otherin a “conversation.”

Cut up safe finger foods(do not use foods that pose a dangerof your baby’s choking) in small piecesand allow your baby to feed himself.It is good practice to pick up smallthings and feel different textures (bananas, soft crackers, berries).

Tape a large piece of drawing paper to a table.

Show your baby how to scribble with large nontoxic crayons.Take turns making marks on

the paper. It’s also fun topaint with water.

Babies enjoy push and pull toys. Make your own pull

toy by threading yogurt cartons,spools, or small boxes on a piece of

yarn or soft string (about 2 feet long).Tie a bead or plastic stacking ring

on one end for a handle.

Let your baby “help”during daily routines. Encourage

your baby to “get” the cup and spoonfor mealtime, to “find” shoes and coatfor dressing, and to “bring” the pants

or diaper for changing.Following directions is an important

skill for your baby to learn.

Excerpted from ASQ-3™ User’s Guide by Jane Squires, Ph.D., Elizabeth Twombly, M.S., Diane Bricker, Ph.D., & LaWanda Potter, M.S. ©2009 Brookes Publishing. All rights reserved. www.agesandstages.com

HELP YOUR CHILD LEARN AND GROW! Try these fun and easy activities with your 2-year-old—a great way to have fun together and encourage your child’s healthy development.

Children can findendless uses for boxes.

A box big enough for your child to fitin can become a car. An appliance box

with holes cut for windows and adoor can become your child’s

playhouse. Decorating the boxes with crayons, markers, or paints can be

a fun activity to do together.

Play “Follow theLeader.” Walk on tiptoes,

walk backward, andwalk slow or fast with big steps and

little steps.

Action is an importantpart of a child’s life. Play a game

with a ball where you give directions and your child does

the actions, such as “Roll the ball.”Kick, throw, push, bounce, and catch

are other good actions.Take turns giving

the directions.

Enhance listening skills by playing both slowand fast music. Songs withspeed changes are great.Show your child how to

move fast or slowwith the music.

Take time to draw withyour child when she wants

to get out paper and crayons.Draw large shapes and let your

child color them in.Take turns.

Children at this age loveto pretend and really enjoy it

when you can pretend with them.Pretend you are different animals, like a

dog or cat. Make animal sounds and actions. Let your child

be the pet owner who pets and

feeds you.

Add actions to yourchild’s favorite nursery rhymes.

Easy action rhymes include “Here We Go ‘Roundthe Mulberry Bush,”“Jack Be Nimble,”

“This Is the Way We Wash Our Clothes,”“Ring Around the Rosy,”

and “London Bridge.”

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Before bedtime, lookat a magazine or children’s book

together. Ask your child to point topictures as you name them, such as

“Where is the truck?” Be silly and ask himto point with an elbow or foot.

Ask him to show you something thatis round or something that goes fast.

While cooking or eatingdinner, play the “more or less”game with your child. Ask who hasmore potatoes and who has less.Try this using same-size glasses

or cups, filled withjuice or milk.

Make a necklaceyou can eat by stringing Cheeriosor Froot Loops on a piece of yarn

or string. Wrap a short pieceof tape around the endof the string to make afirm tip for stringing.

Make an adventure pathoutside. Use a garden hose, rope, orpiece of chalk and make a “path” that

goes under the bench, around the tree,and along the wall. Walk your child

through the path first, usingthese words. After she can do it,

make a new path or haveyour child make a path.

Practice following directions.Play a silly game where you ask your

child to do two or three fun orunusual things in a row. For example,

ask him to “Touch your elbow andthen run in a circle” or “Find a book and put it

on your head.”

Find large pieces of paper orcardboard for your child to draw on.

Using crayons, pencils, or markers, playa drawing game where you follow his

lead by copying exactly what he draws.Next, encourage your child to copy your

drawings, such as circlesor straight lines.

Listen and dance to musicwith your child. You can stop

the music for a moment and play the“freeze” game, where everyone

“freezes,” or stands perfectly still, untilyou start the music again.Try to “freeze” in unusual

positions for fun.

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Play the “guess whatwill happen” game to encourage

your child’s problem-solving and thinkingskills. For example, during bath time, ask

your child, “What do you think willhappen if I turn on the hot and

cold water at the same time?” or“What would happen if I stacked

the blocks to the top of the ceiling?”

Make a bean bag to catchand throw. Fill the toe of an old sockor pantyhose with 3/4 cup dry beans.Sew the remaining side or tie off witha rubber band. Play “hot potato” orsimply play catch. Encourage yourchild to throw the ball overhand

and underhand.

Go on a walk and pick upthings you find. Bring the items

home and help your childsort them into groups. For example,

groups can include rocks, paper orleaves. Encourage your child to start a

collection of special things. Find abox or special place where

he can displaythe collection.

Play “bucket hoops.”Have your child stand about 6 feet

away and throw a medium-sizeball at a large bucket or

trash can. For fun outdoorson a summer day, fill the

bucket with water.

Invite your child to playa counting game. Using a large pieceof paper, make a simple game board

with a straight path. Use dice todetermine the count. Count with your

child, and encourage her to hop the game piece to each square,counting each time the piece

touches down.

Play “circus.” Find old, colorfulclothes and help your child put on acircus show. Provide a rope on the

ground for the high wire act, a sturdybox to stand on to announce the acts,

fun objects for a magic act, andstuffed animals for the show. Encourage

your child’s imagination and creativityin planning the show.Don’t forget to clap.

“Write” and mail a letterto a friend or relative. Provide your child with

paper, crayons or pencil, and an envelope.Let your child draw, scribble, or write; or he cantell you what to write down. When your child is

finished, let him fold the letter to fit in theenvelope, lick, and seal. You can write the

address on the front. Be sure to let him decorate the envelope as

well. After he has put the stamp on, help mail

the letter.

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Encourage dramaticplay. Help your child act outhis favorite nursery rhyme,

cartoon, or story.Use large, old clothes

for costumes.

Make an obstacle courseeither inside or outside your home.

You can use cardboard boxes for jumpingover or climbing through, broomsticks for laying between chairs for “limbo” (goingunder), and pillows for walking around.Let your child help lay out the course.After a couple of practice tries, havehim complete the obstacle course.

Then try hopping or jumping through the course.

You can play “licenseplate count up” in the car or onthe bus. Look for a license plate

that contains the number 1.Then try to find other plates with

2, 3, 4, and so forth, up to 10. Whenyour child can play “count-up,” play

“count-down,” starting with thenumber 9, then 8, 7, 6, and

so forth, down to 1.

Play “mystery sound.”Select household items that make

distinct sounds such as a clock, cerealbox, metal lid (placed on a pan), andpotato chip bag. Put a blindfold onyour child and have him try to guess

which object made the sound.Take turns with your child.

Play the “memory”game. Put five or six familiarobjects on a table. Have yourchild close her eyes. Remove

one object, and rearrangethe rest. Ask your child which object is missing.

Take turns findingthe missing object.

Let your child help youwith simple cooking tasks such as

mashing potatoes, making cheese sandwiches,and fixing a bowl of cereal. Afterward, see

if he can tell you the order that youfollowed to cook and mash the

potatoes or to get the bread out of thecupboard and put the cheese on it.

Supervise carefully when yourchild is near a hot stove.

Practice writing firstnames of friends, toys, and

relatives. Your child may need totrace the letters of thesenames at first. Be sure

to write in largeprint letters.

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Activities HELP YOUR CHILD LEARN AND GROW! E AG 1 · 2019-12-16 · Activities HELP YOUR CHILD LEARN AND GROW! 1 Try these fun and easy activities with your 1-year-old—a great way